Bow tie structures



p 1962 R. JCAPAROSA 3,052,937

BOW TIE STRUCTURES Filed Jan. 15, 1960 INVENTOR Ralph J. Cupurosu UnitedStates Patent Ofilice 3,052,937 Patented Sept. 11, 1962 3,052,937 BOW TESTRUCTURES Ralph J. Caparosa, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Redi-KnotCorporation Filed Jan. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 2,775 Claims. (Cl. 24-49) Thisinvention relates to bow tie structures and particularly to holders foruse with pretied bow neckties.

Various pretied bow tie structures have heretofore been proposed;however, all of such structures of which I am aware are subject to oneor more undesirable features which detract from their appearance whenworn. The pretied bow tie structures heretofore available have generallyfallen into two groups, those applied by grasping the wings of thecollar, which results in disfiguring and marring the collar wings or,alternatively, those fifietl on an elongated neck band which must beattached by hooks and eyes or snaps around the neck of the wearer. inthe mechanical type of pretied bow ties which attaches to the collar'wings, the tie generally follows the contour of the collar and has anappearance that is quite difierent from a hand tied bow tie. Such tiesare usually provided with springs and latches which break or relax sothat the tie is free to slide and become off-center or cocked on theneck of the wearer.

The bow tie structure of my invention is free from all of thesedifiiculties of the prior known pretied bow ties. The tie of myinvention will not slip, slide, shift or fall off the wearers collar,and the attaching mechanism is completely concealed by the shirt collarand the tie. Moreover, the tie holder does not grasp or disfigure thecollar wings, It has no springs or mechanical devices which can fail orbreak. It has no metal portions which can be deformed. The tie of myinvention gives the appearance of a hand tied bow tie but unlike a handtied bow tie does not fray or Wear from tying and is easily and quicklyattached in place.

Preferably, I provide a necktie supporting element and a removablecollar attachment element and spacing member. The necktie supportingelement is preferably formed of a planar formable material having acenter portion with substantially parallel upper and lower horizontallydisposed edges, and a pair of oblique legs extending verticallyangularly upward and rearwardly from each end of said center portion outof the plane of the center portion. A pair of tabs are attached to thecenter portion intermediate its ends and extend generally parallel to orslightly forward from the plane of said center portion.

The collar attachment element is preferably made of planar,semi-resilient material generally of the same shape as a center portionof the necktie supporting element. A generally U-shaped element is fixedto the supporting element intermediate the ends thereof on one side.Spacing means are provided at the opposite ends of said collarattachment element on the side thereof opposite the U- shaped member.Grasping means are provided on said spacing member for resilientlyengaging the upper and lower edges of or detents on the center portionof the necktie supporting element. Said U-shaped member is adapted toengage the neckband of the shirt with the winglike portions of thenecktie supporting element parallel to the neckband beneath the collarwings.

In the foregoing description, I have generally set out the structure ofmy invention together with certain objects, advantages and purposesthereof.

Other objects and advantages Will become apparent from a considerationof the following description and the accompanying drawings showing apresent preferred embodiment of the invention wherein,

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the tie supporting element according tomy invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the element of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation of the element of FIG- URE I viewed fromthe right;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevation of the collar attaching element;

FIGURE 5 is an end elevation of the collar attaching element of FIGURE4;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the collar attaching element of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is an exploded view of the elements making up a bow tieaccording to my invention;

FIGURE 8 is an isometric view of the completed bow tie structure; and

FIGURE 9 is an alternative form of collar attaching element.

Referring to the drawings, 1 have illustrated a tie struc ture, made upof a tie supporting element, having a centrai generally rectangularportion Ill with diverging wings 11 and 12 curved upwardly andrearwardly from the opposite ends of the rectangular portion 16 in agenerally V-shape so as to fit beneath the ends or wings of a shirtcollar. A pair of tabs 14 and 15 are fixed to a spacing member 16intermediate the ends of the rectangular element 1%. These tabs 14 and15 extend generally forwardly from the spacing member 16 and arepreferably slightly tapered from the spacing member so as to be narrowerat the end remote from the spacing member. A bow tie is formed byfolding a suitable material 17 upon itself in the usual manner as shownin FIGURE 7. Slots 18 and 19 are formed on the rear surface of the tieto receive the tabs 14 and 15. The tie is assembled by sliding the tabs14 and 15 into slots 18 and 19 and forming the bow by wrapping thread 13about the center of the tie 17 and over the rectangular portion 19. Acenter Wrapping 26 of cloth is placed over thread 13 about the tie andcenter member 19 and fastened by sewing ends 2011 and 20b together (seeFIGURE 7). A collar attaching member 21 of generally rectangular shapeand of the approximate size of the center member 10 is attached to thecenter member on opposite sides of cloth wrapper 20 by means ofresilient engaging members 22 fixed to spacing member 23 on oppositeends of the collar attaching member 21. The collar attaching member isthus removably attached to the tie holding member. A generally J-shapedhook member 24 of semi-resilient ma terial is fixed to the collarattaching member 21 intermediate its ends. This hook member is adaptedto slip over the collar band of the shirt of the wearer. A dependingfiange 25 (see FIGURE 9) may be formed on the collar attaching member21' intermediate its ends on the lower edge thereof below the hookportion 24 to prevent the collar attaching member from riding over thecollar button on the neckband of the shirt.

The tie is placed on the Wearers neck simply by inserting the wingportions 11 and 12 under the collar and engaging the hook member 24 overthe neckband of the shirt at the wearers throat. The curvature of theWing portions 11 and 12 is such that they follow generally the naturalcontour of the neck of the wearer and rest alongside the neckband of theshirt beneath the wings of the collar whereby the holder and tie areprevented from slipping, shifting, twisting or otherwise becomingdisarranged. The hook portion 24 is attached to the collar attachingmember at a point intermediate its top and bottom edges such that itdoes not extend above the top edge of the attaching member and istherefore fully concealed by the tie while being worn.

Whilel have illustrated and described a presently Pr ferred embodimentof my invention and certain presently preferred practices in theassembly of my bow tie structure, it will be understood that thisinvention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. A necktie holder for bow ties comprising a necktie supporting elementand a collar attaching and spacing element, said necktie supportingelement comprising a central portion of generally rectangular shapehaving upper and lower generally parallel horizontal edges, a pair ofoblique legs extending generally upwardly and rearwardly from the endsof said rectangular portion to form a generally V-shaped element, and apair of tabs attached to the rectangular portion intermediate its endsand extending generally forwardly therefrom with their horizontal edgesgenerally parallel to the top and bottom edges of the rectangularportion, and said collar attaching element including a generallyrectangular portion having engaging means on the ends thereof adapted toengage the upper and lower edges of the central rectangular portion ofthe tie supporting element adjacent its opposite ends and hook means onthe collar attaching element extending rearwardly in J-shaped form.

2. A necktie holder for bow ties comprising a necktie supporting elementand a collar attaching and spacing element, said necktie supportingelement comprising a central portion of generally rectangular shapehaving upper and lower generally parallel horizontal edges, a pair ofoblique legs extending generally upwardly and rearwardly from the endsof said rectangular portion to form a generally V-shaped element,spacing means attached to the rectangular portion intermediate its endsand extending generally forwardly therefrom, and a pair of tabs on saidspacing means with their horizontal edges generally parallel to the topand bottom edges of the rectangular portion, and said collar attachingelement including a generally rectangular portion having engaging meanson the ends thereof adapted removably to engage the upper and loweredges of the central rectangular portion of the tie supporting elementadjacent its opposite ends and hook means on the collar attachingelement extending rearwardly in J-shaped form.

3. A necktie holder for bow ties comprising a necktie supporting elementand a collar attaching and spacing element, said necktie supportingelement comprising a central portion of generally rectangular shapehaving upper and lower generally parallel horizontal edges, a pair ofoblique legs extending generally upwardly and rearwardly from the endsof said rectangular portion to form a generally V-shaped element, and apair of tabs attached to the rectangular portion intermediate its endsand extending generally forwardly therefrom with their horizontal edgesgenerally parallel to the top and bottom edges of the rectangularportion, and said collar attaching element including a generallyrectangular portion, spacing 'means extending transversely from theplane of the portion at the ends thereof, engaging means on the spacingmeans adapted removably to engage the central rectangular portion of thetie supporting element, and hook means on the collar attaching elementextending rearwardly in J -shaped form.

4. A necktie holder for bow ties of conventional shape having alongitudinally extending wing pontion and a central knot wrap comprisinga necktie supporting element and a collar attaching and spacing element,said necktie supporting element comprising a central of gen-.

enally rectangular shape having upper and lower genenally parallelhorizontal edges over which the central knot wrap passes, 'a pair ofoblique legs extending genenally upwardly and rearwardly from the endsof said rectangular portion adjacent the edges of the central knot wrapto form a generally Vshaped element, and said.

collar attaching element including a generally rectangular portionhaving resilient removable engaging means thereon releasably engagingthe necktie supporting element adjacent the junction of the oblique legsand the central rectangular portion on opposite sides of the centralknot wrap and hook means on the collar attaching element extendingrearwardly and downwardly therefrom to form a collar overlapping andengaging member.

5. A necktie holder for how ties of conventional shape havinglongitudinally extending wings and a central knot wrap comprising anecktie supporting element and a removable collar attaching element,said necktie supporting element comprising a central body portion overwhich the central knot wrap passes and having a pair of oblique 7 legsextending generally upwardly and rearwardly from the edges of the knotwrap to form a generally 'V-shape, and said collar attaching elementcomprising a generally rectangular portion having engaging means thereonadjacent each end treleasably engaging the necktie supporting elementadjacent the junction of the oblique legs with said central body portionand on opposite sides of the central knot wrap and spacing the collarattaching element away from the necktie supporting element so that thecentral knot wrap passes 'therebetween and hook means on the collarattaching element extending rearwardly and downwardly therefrom -to forma collar overlapping and engaging member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS656,573 Shantz Aug. 21, 1900 2,112,437 Clark Mar. 29, 1938 2,617,107Semmel Nov. 11, 1952 2,911,696 Turcsan Nov. 10, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 7292,058 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1953

